Sensing the Troubles compiled a history of Northern Ireland’s Troubles using fragments of memories rooted in the senses. By paying attention to sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, we can move beyond well-known political narratives and remember stories of the everyday as well as the extraordinary.
I wanted to write a different history of the Troubles: one that reflected the experience of living within a conflict and that conveyed the everydayness of it. The focus is sensory history because it is through the senses that we meet with and make meaning of the world around us.
I received a Leverhulme Research Fellowship in 2021-2, and this allowed to to pursue this project.